Forty tanks and other military hardware were spotted beyond the withdrawal lines but outside of designated storage sites.

REUTERS

The Russian-led occupation forces continue massing heavy weapons in the area near the Russian occupied city of Luhansk in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, and conduct live-fire exercises, preparing for active hostilities.

The military hardware was beyond the withdrawal lines but outside of designated storage sites, it said.

The UAV also spotted over 60 armored combat vehicles, mostly infantry fighting vehicles, and about 450 persons in full combat gear assessed as preparing for live-fire exercises, it said.

On December 28, a tank (type undetermined) was spotted on road M04 in Yurivka (27km west of Luhansk).

"The Ukrainian members of the JCCC stress that such actions by the occupying administration and the armed forces of the Russian Federation once again demonstrate a persistent reluctance to comply with the Minsk agreements undertaken as part of talks of the Trilateral Contact Group regarding the withdrawal of weapons and [their] interest in further escalation," the Ukrainian side said.

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